Telling a story
by R.O.TR
Summary: Applejack's friends offered to write the stories of how they got their cutie marks for a report Apple Bloom was writing- and Cheerilee finds each pony has their own way of telling a story.
1. Applejack

Disclaimer: I do not own any of MLP Friendship is magic, Hasbro and co do.

_Author's note: This was just a slightly different thing I wanted to try and do. Oh and I've uploaded the first two chapters in one go.  
_

**Telling a story**

As class was dismissed for the day, the fillies and colts made a beeline for Cheerilee's desk, all holding a piece of paper in their mouths. Some papers held scrawled writing; some writing fell out of the guide lines on the paper, and Diamond Tiara's writing looked suspiciously like it had been written by an adult. They went in single file, handing over their work and leaving for the day.

"Aren't you coming?" asked Scootaloo as she passed Apple Bloom, still sat at her desk.

"No, I mean yeah, I mean just give me a minute, I'll see you outside."

Scootaloo nodded and walked over to Cheerilee, the teacher looking mildly unimpressed to see her student had only reached one half of the one page requirement. And she had been allowed to add drawings to take up the space too!

"Apple Bloom? Is everything ok?" asked Cheerilee, noticing her student still sat at her desk.

"Oh, yeah," replied the young filly, quickly glancing around to make sure the cost was clear. Seeing it free of students she picked up her own work, and trotted over to the desk, sheets of paper hanging from her mouth. Her teacher looked puzzled as the work was placed on her desk.

"Apple Bloom you only had to write a page about what you had learnt about the cutie mark," said Cheerilee before smiling kindly. "I hope you didn't push yourself too-,"

The smile vanished as she pushed away the top sheet of paper and saw a different style of writing underneath. "Erm Apple Bloom…"

"No, no it ain't like that Miss Cheerilee. I was asking Sis about her cutie mark, and Twilight Sparkle was there and said she'd offer to give her cutie mark story as some kinda…supporting…evidence? Whatever it is, Rainbow Dash overheard, and said if I wanted a real story she should get one from me."

"And the rest of the papers?"

"All of sis's friends ended up writing things- Rainbow Dash even made Fluttershy, even though she said her writing wouldn't be as good and…and I only brought it with me cos I thought you might find them interesting!"

"Well Apple Bloom, I can see from the top page you did your own work, so I suppose you just went above and beyond this time. I'll take this, why don't you get going and meet your friends?"

Apple Bloom, not needing a second invitation, nodded once and ran off.

After the filly had left, and after quickly cleaning her desk Cheerilee left for the day, heading home and waving to a few ponies on the way. Finally back home for the evening she sat around, cleaning a bit, writing a few sentences of a report, but her interest kept coming back to Apple Bloom's work. Finally she realized she had to read it, and sat down. She read through Apple Bloom's work- a bit crude, some spelling errors, but it was a nice enough report.

Finally she got to the bottom of the page:

_And this is my siss storey:_

* * *

Oh hi there Cheerilee. Apple Bloom asked me to write this, I don't know much about writing so I don't know if this'll be any good. This is meant to be my story about my cutie mark, though I think you might have heard about it before what with us both living in Ponyville and all and being around the same age.

Oh that wasn't a good start to a story was it? Please don't mark Apple Bloom down for that, I'll tell my story now.

As you know I live on the farm and I did live on the farm when I was young too. When I was a filly Apple Bloom wasn't around, but as a teacher I suppose you know that already right? It'd be impossible with the ages. Anyway I lived on the farm with my brother and Granny Smith and we worked there hard, just like we do today.

But at the time I just didn't want to spend all my time working the farm, so I left the farm, I gathered all my things together to go live the sophisticated life with my Aunt and Uncle Orange. That led me to Manehatten, and let me say that was a heck of a trip to get there, have you ever tried long distance travel as a filly? It ain't all that easy without an adult, but there I was in Manehatten, the big city. Really big city.

There were giant buildings, and statues and even bigger buildings all over the place, nothing at all like Ponyville, but I guess maybe you've visited it too in which case I'm just wasting your time describing it ain't I? But anyway it was a really big city and it was filled with a lot of fancy looking ponies. And rude ponies too, but I guess wealthy folk can afford to be rude. Oh and I forgot to mention, but back then I had even more freckles too, I guess I should have said that earlier though.

So anyway, there I was in Manehatten, the place where I was certain I'd find myself. Positive, super-duper certain I'd find myself. And by find myself I mean find what I want to do, what I wanted to be, I hadn't somehow lost myself if that's what it actually means. Not that I would be able to lose myself.

So I stayed with my Aunt and Uncle Orange. They lived in a mighty big building, but other ponies lived there too. The place they called home was all really big, but boring too, they didn't really have any decorations or anything at all. And they sure spoke weird.

Soon I found myself at a party or was it a dinner? Anyway my mane was all done up silly and I sat there around other ponies with their expensive costumes, trying my hardest to speak like they did. Oh boy that was hard to do. But they sure are strange, they hadn't even heard of a rooster, and there I was, sitting and feeling like an idiot. And you know those jokes about Manehatten food portions? They _ain't _a joke.

Oh I was sad then, sad and lonely. There I was in the big city, among a whole load of ponies, but I just didn't feel home at all. I was lucky enough to get my mane out of that silly style, and found myself looking out the window to watch the sunrise. And it was then that I found myself thinking about my family, about the farm, about what they were doing right now. Well right now back then.

I was so homesick, when all of a sudden, BOOM a rainbow just suddenly appeared and it pointed me back home. Well needless to say I ran back to the farm, but you'd know that already wouldn't you, I mean where else would I be? And then my cutie mark finally appeared when I returned to the farm, reunited with my family and finally doing what I was supposed to do. And without any worries about big city dinners, or speaking correctly or anything like that.

And then of course Apple Bloom came along and please don't mark her down if this story was bad.

Applejack.

* * *

"I never have visited Manehatten," mused Cheerilee to herself as she finished the page and placed it down on top of Apple Bloom's section.

"I wonder who's next…"


	2. Rarity

The next page that Cheerilee turned to had the most decorative and graceful writing she had seen for some time, elegantly written in purple ink upon slightly more expensive looking paper. Even before she started reading the story she had a good idea of the author of this particular cutie mark story.

Her guess was proved to be correct, even though she hadn't doubted it, as she spotted an elegant _Rarity _signed at the bottom of the page. She smiled to herself- Rarity's writing was a far world apart from the previous style of Applejack. Neater, with a lot more curls on various words, and joined up, as opposed to each letter written separately.

"Well Miss Rarity, let's see if your writing matches your dress making ability," said Cheerilee as she started to read.

* * *

**O**nce upon a time there lived a fair, graceful and all around elegant filly named Rarity. She had a flowing purple mane, neatly curled and a true beacon of fashion if I dare say so. She was also gifted with kind, sweet, adorable blue eyes and a shiny white coat of elegance that was the envy of her entire class. She was also gifted with the ability to make costumes, and yet…and yet…

Rarity found herself at school, still uncertain about what her special talent was supposed to be, about what she was supposed to do with her life. She had been at school for some time now and still found her flank to be blank. With a school play coming up young Rarity had offered her talents to design and create the costumes for the show.

During the rehearsal Rarity heard the teacher say something that filled her young creative mind with disappointment- that the costumes she had designed were 'nice'. Nice? Nice is a word that will get you nowhere when it comes to fashion, a bland word for the merely acceptable, and a sign of the inconsequential. To have true fashion abilities she knew she would have to transcend mere _nice _and raise high above such minimum requirements, to the level of spectacular or even above. If a costume is to be made, if a dress is to be made, it must be a thing of such sheer beauty that the word _nice _never even crosses the judging pony's mind- that such high praise already fills their thoughts the word nice is completely forgotten about.

Rarity's teacher did not seem too concerned about the costumes merely being seen as nice, but Rarity knew she had to do better. Much better. With so much work already put into designing and making the costumes she knew that she couldn't just sit back and allow this disaster to go ahead. No, instead she must try and redo the costumes, create them again to be the fabulous creations she had originally envisaged.

But the performance was to take place the next day, oh the trouble she would face to try and redesign the costumes in time. Only a gifted pony of truly excellent creative skills would be able to meet such a deadline- but Rarity knew that she had to try.

Her herculean efforts continued long into the evening and into the next day as well of course, as she exhausted all avenues of creative design to try and come up with the perfect costumes- yet nothing seemed to work. She found herself almost accepting her fate, that the play would have to go ahead with merely acceptable costumes, and that she would have to endure the word nice again. The play was that night, what could she do now? All her efforts had resulted in nothing better; all the materials she possessed had been trialled in an attempt to surpass the crowd's likely expectations.

And in that darkest moment young Rarity felt her spirit wane- perhaps this was sign, perhaps the life of a fashionista was not her path after all. As she stood there, almost ready to accept defeat, from out of nowhere her unicorn horn (the cutest in the entire school) suddenly started to glow.

But it did more than just glow. She felt the power of the unicorn magic pass over her as she started to be pulled towards something. She could not tell what it was yet, where she was heading. And she could not overcome the power of the magic either, so it wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter.

Unicorn magic is a powerful thing, and so she continued on her journey, dragged across all manner of locations. And never once did she feel grumpy about it, or get bored of the trip. Not once at all.

And finally her journey came to a stop in front of a giant rock. She was confused at first, unsure about what to make of her supposed destiny. But even then, in front of this confusing sign she maintained her grace, not feeling angry or grumpy or anything at all. 

As she stood there elegantly, trying to decide what her supposed destiny meant, from behind her came a great explosion. A vast rainbow coloured wave stretched over the sky above the young filly, and suddenly, cracks began to form across the gigantic rock. From the cracks a glow of something beautiful appeared, and then the rock fell in two, revealing the great bounty inside.

Diamonds, so many diamonds, as many colours as any pony could dare imagine. Flawless, shining brightly, a gift from her destiny, a true sign of what she needed to do.

There was only a short while before the play would start, but still Rarity was able to make it back in time with the diamonds, and working tirelessly created costumes of such pure fabulosity that the audience found themselves transfixed and even the teacher finally appreciated the joy of artistic talent.

Standing there before the entranced crowd, in the glow of the fabulous costumes Rarity saw her cutie mark appear in the shape of three diamonds.

And now you know the story.

Spoken by Rarity, transcribed by Spike.

* * *

"Ah so that's where all of those diamonds came from," mused Cheerilee to herself. She had felt very nervous at that play, worried about performing in such an expensive looking costume. Luckily though the play had gone through without a hitch. Only Rarity had gained her cutie mark that night though.

"So, which story is next?" said Cheerilee.


	3. Fluttershy

Cheerilee placed the next piece of paper in front of her. Delicate writing stared back at her.

"Fluttershy huh? I hope Rainbow Dash didn't try _too_ hard to get Fluttershy to write this," she said to herself, an image of the nervous pony crossing her mind. The writing didn't seem to have been written under coercion, so Cheerilee started to read.

* * *

My name is Fluttershy and this is my cutie mark story about how I got my cutie mark. Rainbow Dash has said she has already written her own story about how she got her cutie mark, so I guess that's probably far more exciting than this one. I'm sorry if it's boring, or just not all that memorable compared to Rainbow Dash's story, but I will try my hardest to tell my story well. This is actually my third attempt at writing this, my last two tries were really short and I thought they might be a bit dull, so I tried to write again. Oh and I have actually told this story to Apple Bloom and her friends before, one day they were finding out about cutie marks and I guess that might be how she came up with the idea. And even then they were more interested in Rainbow Dash's story, or at least Scootaloo was, so if this isn't any good once again I'm really sorry.

_Cheerilee paused for a moment, oddly almost feeling bad about reading this. Just how much pressure had been put on the pony to come up with this? And how much of the pressure was actually from Fluttershy herself?_

My cutie mark story starts, and I guess is caused by my time at summer flight camp. Back then I was a really weak flyer, I just wasn't very fast or strong at all. Oh some ponies would talk about how I could hardly fly; they even had a little chant about it. Not that it bothered me, or I still remember it now as an adult, able to recall every single work, and every single pair of eyes looking at me or anything. I'm still not a very strong flyer, everypony else seemed to do better than me when we collected that rain water for the clouds, but I did help out then and I knew I should be more confident in my abilities. Oh and Rainbow Dash had such a better wind power then me. Did I mention she's a really good flyer?

Anyway I was a filly at summer flight camp, and once again I found myself standing all by myself on one of the clouds. I liked being by myself, sometimes I'd watch the other Pegasus ponies flying around. I have to admit, even though it is wrong, sometimes I was a bit jealous of all the other students at flight camp, at how well they could fly. Oh I don't like it at all, feeling jealous isn't good, envying other ponies just isn't good at all.

So there I was at summer flight camp, when I decided to try and fly through one of the cloud rings- everypony else was doing it, so I could at least try to. I did manage to make it through the ring, even if I did actually land on it, but then I lost control and fell over and landed right in front of two other camp attendees. Oh and I was wearing a flag at the time too, where I'd lost control. They called me _Cluttzershy_ and they laughed too, I don't see why it was so funny, they already knew by now I was a weak flyer, so it couldn't have been that much of a surprise.

They kept laughing and making fun of me, and I just wanted to crawl away and hide, when suddenly from the skies she appeared. Rainbow Dash that is. She landed right beside me, and looked at the two colts and told them to leave me alone. She was so…brave and she had a Rainbow mane, so much nicer than my mane. She stood there defending me, and they called her _Rainbow Crash _so I guess they really were just big meanies. Rainbow Dash wouldn't back down and neither would the meanies. Oh it kept going so much that in the end all three of them agreed to a race.

So there I was standing in front of three grumpy ponies, holding the flag to start the race. I don't know why they asked me to do it, what if I had dropped the flag or done something wrong? But anyway they set off on their race, but I got caught in their gust and fell off the cloud. I fell and fell, and fell some more, all the way from the clouds to the ground below. I don't even like to imagine what might have happened had it not been for the butterflies that caught me just before I hit the ground. Oh that could have been so painful, or even worse…

And so there I was on the ground, surrounded by really, _really _beautiful creatures, and I flew around on top of them for a while. I had never seen them before, as it was my first time at ground level, having just lived on the clouds before- did I mention I'm a pretty weak flyer? It's a bit embarrassing, but I fell so in love with all the little critters around me that…that I actually started singing. All the cute bunnies, and the little squirrels and all the other critters that gathered around to see me, and I even started flying properly, as I really wanted to see everything of this strange new world around me.

And there I was in this beautiful new world when suddenly there was like a…rainbow explosion behind me that scared all the animals. They were all oh so scared, running away, trying to find a hiding place. Well I knew I couldn't just let the poor little critters be scared like that, so I took it upon myself to go and help all of them, let all of them know that they shouldn't worry. And the animals all followed me, all seemed to understand that I was telling them everything was ok. It was as though I could communicate with them, that they understood me. And I felt a close connection to the animals too, but I guess you already know that don't you, I do have quite a lot of animals that I look after, after all.

Surrounded by the animals I had helped to calm down, my cutie mark appeared. And I really like it too.

And that was the story of how I got my cutie- oh no I did it again. I mentioned Rainbow Dash's race and I forgot to talk about what happened there- according to Rainbow Dash. Well you do have Rainbow Dash's story so I guess at least you'll be able to find out.

I hoped you enjoyed my little story…

* * *

With Fluttershy's story finished Cheerilee sat back for a moment. Reading the tales of how other ponies got their cutie marks was surprisingly fun. Perhaps next time she should ask her class to try and do something like this. Obviously not six ponies, but maybe one or two cutie mark stories.

Although it was getting past her dinner time, Cheerilee ignored her stomach and picked up the next piece of paper.


	4. Twilight Sparkle

With Fluttershy's story now complete, Cheerilee had now reached the halfway point. Rarity's story had been…different and Fluttershy had been far too meek for her own good. Yet her story had still been the cutest so far, meeting all of those animals and helping them out.

With Apple Bloom's own report, the pile of read paper was now bigger than the unread pile- but that gave the teacher little joy as she suddenly remembered she did have a whole class-worth of homework to read. Luckily one of the joys of teaching the younger ponies was that homework was often rare, and never especially long. Fillies and colts were meant to play and have fun learning their own way, not be sat at home and bored as they wrote sheet after sheet of work.

But first she had the rest of Apple Bloom's work to read, and so she started the next page.

* * *

Dear Cheerilee, this is a little report I produced for Apple Bloom.

The cutie mark truly is a strange part of pony life, a mark I have yet to see on any other being in Equestria. I suspect it is unique to the pony species, though of course I am not arrogant enough to assume that without first conducting an appropriate level of research. Both with a large sample of ponies, and across a period of time, but of course I have my own studies to deal with currently.

A pony isn't born with their cutie mark; all ponies are initially mark free, or as some ponies unscientifically say "a blank flank." During the early stages of a pony's life they remain mark free, the cutie mark only being obtained after the pony finally discovers something unique about themselves, some talent or characteristic that separates themselves from other ponies. Again, research into whether identical cutie marks have appeared more than once across Equestrian history would be very interesting, but I wouldn't have the resources for such a study. A cutie mark is something that appears naturally, and not something that can be generated purely by using unicorn magic (as Apple Bloom has already discovered).

But of course this is meant to be my story of how I gained my cutie mark, so I suppose I should actually tell that story. The story of course takes place when I was a filly, still without my cutie mark.

I had long wanted to visit the summer sun festival, a traditional celebration in which Princess Celestia raises the sun. This time I was finally able to visit the festival, gathering among the crowds, among the various festivities as I awaited the rising of the sun. It was there that I saw something truly amazing, truly astounding as Princess Celestia appeared. She stood before us, so majestic, and with her magic glowing and her wings spread wide she flew up into the sky and brought the sun with her. I had never seen something so…so amazing before.

While the festival was soon over, I still found myself transfixed and I soon turned to studying, gathering as many books as I possibly could to try and learn everything there was to learn about magic. Of course I now know that was just a silly dream, even years on and in the present day there are still many things I do not know, but well I was younger then after all.

I continued learning and reading, reading and learning. Practising too, even able to turn the pages of the books I read purely with magic. They piled up so high around me as I read the textbooks- books that aren't normally found in schools, they were above that age groups reading level. Not that I'm bragging or anything like that.

My parents must have noticed my hard work too, as they enrolled me in Princess Celestia's school for gifted Unicorns. I was so excited about it…until I found myself in front of a group of teachers, expected to pass an exam to gain entry to the class. Back then it was very scary, but I know now that it is very important to have entrance exams to show that you have the talent to be worthy of a place. Especially if the place involves learning with Princess Celestia.

My parents were there too wishing me good luck when I was provided with an egg. Not just any egg, but the egg of a dragon- a rare egg indeed. That egg was provided to me to try and show off- and prove I had- magical abilities. But what could I do? There had been little mention in the textbooks of dealing with dragon eggs. I had learnt how to hold, move and manipulate items, not raise a dragon egg.

It was so nerve wracking, so awkward as I stood there, trying to figure out what I needed to do. I could feel the teachers getting impatient as I tried to think of something, and so in the end I resorted to simply trying to use my magical powers with barely any thought at all. It was so terrible, nothing happened; there was no change in the egg at all. With my whole future resting upon that exam, the gathered teachers growing bored and unimpressed and finding myself no closer to hatching the egg I was certain my one big chance was over. No learning with Princess Celestia, no developing my magical skills to their fullest ability.

I tried one last time, gathering all of my strength but nothing happened. I couldn't do anything. I had failed my parents, myself and those impatient ponies who had gathered to observe me. I could tell it was all over, that they were going to fail me, when suddenly there was an odd explosion. I am aware now of how it was caused by the creation of a Sonic rainboom, but back then I had no idea what had caused it.

As the ground rumbled I felt a strange sensation, as though my power had been increased a dramatic amount. My horn started to glow, and with a bright light I directed my attention towards the egg. I saw the egg hatch, saw a dragon appear.

But I have little recollection of what happened next, mainly just remembering a…whiteness around me, and a sense of power I had never felt before. I felt like I was out of control, my parents informed me I had actually lost control, when suddenly I felt a reassuring hoof upon my shoulder. As I snapped out of what I can only describe as a trance the first thing I saw was Princess Celestia. And then everypony I had accidentally magically damaged return to normal.

Princess Celestia offered to make me her own personal protégé; she even suggested I might have had the most amount of raw ability she had ever seen! I of course accepted the offer, my parents happy to see it, and then just when I thought an initially dark day couldn't get any better Princess Celestia pointed something out to me.

My cutie mark had appeared! And so with my cutie mark, a position learning with Princess Celestia, and my new friend Spike I continued with my studies.

Though I still don't know the more complex details about how cutie marks occur, or why they occur.

Yours sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle.

* * *

"I wonder if Sweetie Belle, or any of the other unicorn ponies will find they have a lot of power," said Cheerilee quietly as she finished reading. "But hopefully nothing that will turn me…into something."


	5. Rainbow Dash

Cheerilee decided to go without dinner for now, not wanting to interrupt the stories she was reading. She allowed a quick break from her chair to rush to the kitchen and get herself a drink. Taking a sip of the warm drink she returned to her seat and back to her comfortable sitting position, taking hold of the next story she had to read. Based on what Apple Bloom has said, she guessed the other two ponies who had written their stories were Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

It didn't take Cheerilee very long to notice the author of the second to last page she had left to read. She leant back in her chair, holding up the paper with one hoof. This should be interesting at the very least.

* * *

Sit down, and get ready to hear the story of how Rainbow Dash, me, got her cutie mark! But beware; this story isn't suitable for younger ponies or ponies with heart conditions due to the sheer awesomeness contained within! Make sure you're comfortable, you aren't going to want to move after you start reading my story.

So anyway, there I was at flight camp, learning to fly and everything, you know camp stuff. Not that _I _needed to learn how to fly or anything, I already knew how to do all of that stuff. Basics smasics, I wanted to learn the advanced stuff. But even at the flight camp there were a few jerks, ponies that would almost make you sad to call yourself a Pegasus pony like them- bunch of jerks making fun of Fluttershy and always calling me Rainbow Crash. No way would I let them get away with that.

It was all up to me, to defend both myself and Fluttershy's honour, challenging those two dumb colts to a race. They stood to my left, Fluttershy in front of me. She waved the flag, and then bang we were off, the race starting. I knew I had to win, that I must win- that I would win. There was no way I was going to lose to _these _ponies.

I tried my hardest, wings flapping harder than they had ever flapped before, going faster than I had ever managed to go before. They tried to keep up with me, but then one lost control and flew straight into a cloud pillar, leaving just me and the really annoying colt.

I was winning, I was going fast and I liked it! I was sure nopony had ever gone this fast before, certain I was the best flyer there. It was something I loved, from the feel of the strong breeze against me, to the feeling of my wings slicing through the air. But then the jerk appeared and smacked into me, before flying off again taking the lead.

And he called me _Rainbow Crash _again. Flying fast is one thing, a very good thing, but winning- that's the most important thing of all. If you're in a race there's no point in the end unless you come out on top. And winning was the only thing I wanted at that moment.

He flew downwards and I followed, trying to go as fast as I could. I felt the wind snapping at my face, the resistance getting stronger, yet somehow I was flying faster. I was speeding up, the target was in sight, and suddenly around me there was the faintest sign of a rainbow.

And then- it happened! I hit the target, and broke out into a SONIC RAINBOOM! I flew upwards, the rainbow I had created blasting out below me as I shot back up into the air, the victor. Not just a victor, but a filly who showed that the sonic rainboom really could happen! I carried on flying, the joy of racing in my heart, the knowledge that I had shown the impossible to be possible making me grin. I flew past the cheering crowd, trailing a rainbow behind me.

And then as I reached high into the air, high above the summer camp, high above where any pony had reached since the camp had started, my cutie mark appeared. My awesome, rainbow bolt cutie mark. Some ponies gain their cutie marks by finding a special talent, or some other kind of event. I gained _my _cutie mark by proving a legend! How many other ponies can say that huh?

And that's the story of how I got my cutie mark. I'm sure Twilight Sparkle or some other pony will write a longer story than mine, but I don't think any story could live up to this one! Hoped you liked it Cheerilee,

The one and only Rainbow Dash!

* * *

"Thank you for the little shout out Rainbow Dash," said the amused Cheerilee, before taking another sip of her drink, slightly colder now. "I wish I could see a sonic rainboom, I've only ever heard about them from Pony college."

She paused for a moment, glancing around before laughing to herself.

"Oh dear, have I been talking to myself all this time?"

By now evening had truly started to fall, and the world outside her window was now dark. She gently placed Rainbow Dash's story down on the read pile and ambled over to the window, pulling the curtains shut. Checking that the lit candle was suitably long, she sat back down in her chair and took hold of the last piece of paper from Apple Bloom's report on cutie marks.

By process of elimination this would have to be Pinkie Pie's cutie mark story. Unless somehow Apple Bloom had asked a different pony. Cheerilee took a deep long gulp of her drink, finishing it off and grabbing the final piece of paper. Read this one, have (late) dinner and then get started on the other reports too. The fillies and colts weren't expecting any marks for another couple of days- the best part about being a teacher was she got to set all the deadlines!


	6. Pinkie Pie

It was easy enough to tell that the final story had been written by Pinkie Pie. If the crudely drawn pony holding balloons wasn't a giveaway, the fact that it had 'Pinkie Pie's story' written in pink crayon at the top was a total giveaway. So here it was, the final story in Apple Bloom's unexpectedly long report. Cheerilee had already planned to give the filly a good mark based on her own work, but this extra content had cemented that plan.

Cheerilee was almost certain this was probably going to be Apple Bloom's highest mark so far. Though there wasn't exactly a large amount of competition. Apple Bloom seemed to have more interest in playing than writing, not that Cheerilee could blame her.

* * *

Hi Cheerilee, I wrote a story? Isn't that funny? Well actually I haven't written it yet have I, that comes later after I write this bit. But if you are reading this, that means I did write a story in which case ha isn't that funny? But it will be hard to write; when I spoke to Apple Bloom she said she didn't have time for me to add drawings and other things like that. They say a picture tells a thousand words, but I don't think Apple Bloom needs a thousand words from me. And a picture by itself wouldn't be much of a story, I mean look at the doodle I drew on this page. It doesn't tell my cutie mark story at all does it? Well if you look at it properly you can see the cutie mark I drew, but just seeing a cutie mark doesn't explain how it got there! But it does show what it looks like- though you already know what it looks like, because you know me, everypony knows me and so everypony knows what my cutie mark looks like!

So anyway this is meant to be about my cutie mark right, so this story starts when I was still an itty bitty Pinkie Pie, just a little filly with no cutie mark, I mean how can my cutie mark start with me having my cutie mark? That just wouldn't be a story at all would it?

I lived on the old rock farm just outside of Ponyville along with my sisters and my parents- all of my family all together all working on the old rock farm. It was not a very cheery place at all and all the trees looked half dead and the sky and ground were all grey- or at least that's how I remember it being. And the rock harvest always seemed to be the same amount of rocks every year. And the same rocks.

Funny huh?

Well actually it wasn't really funny, funny was banned from the rock farm. We didn't smile or have parties or anything- it was all about the rocks. Harvesting the rocks, moving the rocks, counting the rocks, once a year trying to grow some rocks. I suggested selling pet rocks but dad said it'd never catch on!

I can still remember it clearly now, the day was coming to an end, even though the day wasn't much brighter than the night. My family were all returning back to the house for carrot stew, tepid water and rock stew (it was treat night) and I was still out in the field finishing off my rock pile. It was hard work, but itty bitty Pinkie Pie wasn't going to slack off and leave the pile unfinished!

We were all getting ready for the annual rock rotation, when from like out of nowhere it suddenly appeared! A great colourful rainbow of rainbow colouriness overhead, shooting towards me and the farm. I hadn't really heard of a rainbow back then, discussion of anything with more than three colours was banned on the farm and the grey clouds never seemed to show any rainbows. Though I know about them now, I mean one of my best friends _is _called Rainbow Dash after all. Back then I probably would have been confused by her name, but not now I'm a grown up Pinkie!

I was hit by a shockwave or something, some kind of powerful wind, blowing away the grey clouds and bringing the blue sky back. Back then I think I had once seen a blue sky, but the clouds normally came back even after the Pegasisisis had cleaned them away. It blew me backwards, and even made my hair go all frizzy! (You know, like how I normally have it now).

And suddenly Equestria was in front of me for the first time, bright skies, an actual factual rainbow overhead and even a whole load of animals all running around. I don't know all of their names, Fluttershy is better with animals. I was the only one there to see it, my family being inside and everything.

I had a strange feeling pass over me as I looked up at that rainbow, something I'd later find out was called joy, something I wanted to feel forever as I stood there smiling. I had seen the beauty of Equestria- and _I liked it!_

But I didn't just want it for myself because that would be a selfish Pinkie, I wanted everypony else to feel this joy, to smile. Smile by themselves, smile with me it was all good. But as soon as it appeared the rainbow was gone, those type of things don't last forever. And they hardly ever came to the rock farm- that was the first time I'd properly seen one. But what could I do to make everypony else smile?

For a day and a night and a day I worked, setting up a party of truly funtabulous proportions, the biggest bestest party a Pie had ever put together! My family appeared the next day confused by the music I had playing, and maybe my mane too, it was all frizzy at the time. And I had balloons and streamers and ribbon and decorations and oh so much delicious cake for all of my family to share. Oh and punch and apples too, I invited everypony in and told them about the new thing I had discovered- a _party_.

But such things were strange and alien and strange to my family, who hadn't even seen a balloon before. I had been so happy making my party, but now I was certain that they didn't like it, that they were confused and scared by what was happening and frightened by the fact food actually had colour. It seemed to last forever, my family standing there all confused, when suddenly…

A smile!

They did like my party and even my dad, who I thought had never learnt to smile, smiled and I was sooo happy! And then we partied and danced and ate cake, and the next thing I knew I had my cutie mark on my side. Sometimes I think it might have been linked to the party, but I'm not sure about that.

In which case maybe that wasn't my cutie mark story! Well whatever it was I hoped you had fun reading it Cheerilee and remember smile, smiling is best!

Have fun,

Pinkie Pie!

* * *

"I think that probably was your cutie mark story," said Cheerilee aloud to herself. If it wasn't she had no idea when Pinkie might have gained her cutie mark.

And with that Apple Bloom's report had finally come to an end. Cheerilee placed it on top of the rest of the young filly's work and leant back. A faint frown crossed her face as she noticed the writing on Diamond Tiara's report. At the recent parent-teacher meeting she had mentioned Diamond Tiara's hoofwriting was messy, and suddenly it had become very well written afterwards. Like an adult's hoofwriting.

"Not again…"

With that she paused for the night, Apple Bloom's report sat in a neat pile as the teacher made herself dinner. In time that was soon finished and she set about reading Diamond Tiara and then Scootaloo's reports.

Unfortunately for both, their cheating and lack of effort respectively was made even clearer after following Apple Bloom's work.

And far from Cheerilee's house slept Apple Bloom in her little bed on the farm. Little did she realize that soon she would receive a surprisingly high mark (especially for her).

And that Rainbow Dash would try to claim some of the credit for it.


End file.
